AZ Culture

I am the earlier poster and I work as a Physician Liaison in a marketing/business development role for an academic teaching hospital. Wonderful environment, no back stabbing, no corporate B.S., no pretending. I love coming to work everyday....best decision I could've ever made.

 

Human Resoures is an administrative role and should never have had a seat at the sales strategy and marketing table let alone being allowed to influence personnel decisions. WTF? AZ should have outsourced the entire operation to keep in totally unbiased.

 

I had a very similar experience with AZ. Very successful my first 10years then suddenly shown the door my last year. I bounced back with another company in a few months and very successful with none of the administrative, redundant nonsense or back stabbing. I was at the airport a few weeks ago coming back from a business trip on the west coast and I saw my former partner who despised me behind my back of course. He did not see me but he looked absolutely terrible and stressed out heading for some launch meeting I think. Thank God I'm out of AZ. Karma is a B....

 

Too bad my ass! I have been milking the system for years, and will continue to do so. It's not just me either. Hell, my guess is that 98% are milking it! Not a single person at AZ that I know, works past 4 hours a day. It's now SOP. Managers are worse! When was the last time a DM worked a full day on a field ride? They are worse than we are! Too damn funny!!

 

Two members of my pod say that they are doing a joint lunch - except only one of them is there. They get together every other Friday to sign each others' sign in sheets. Thus, they each work half time. The female has a 'very close personal relationship' with the Zone Dir. so she thinks she can continue doiing this. I bet she can.

 

The culture here is the WORST I have ever experienced.Management doesn't understand the real world we live and sell in,as witnessed by the robotic way we are told to sell.They also don't have a clue that each territory is different,and should be treated as such,by giving reps ability to work their own terrritories instead of being told which docs to call on,how to sell,and not understanding how important rapport and relationships are.The sad part is that things won't change here and everything will stay"black and white".The roadmap for continued failure as the visionaries have left the house!

 

Aside from the reps that live 5 minutes from 20 doctors, most here at AZ work 50-plus hour weeks between the driving, metric calls, ride days, tracking and account reports, expenses reports, emails with action items and IT issues. Quite frankly, I know of no one that works or is able to work a 20 hour week. As stated above, we here at lovely AZ have at least 20 hours of administrative work every week. You have to call on at least six doctors a day, usually specialists that are 40 miles apart. You do the math. Just meet the basics you are working a 50 hour week. I am personally sick of it. One day last week I started at 6 am, had a TC at 7 am, made calls all day until 3 pm, had another TC, had an expense report due, had computer issues and by the time I was done with this shit, it was 9 pm at night. That is the typical day of a pharma rep at AZ. If you believe otherwise, you are being fooled. Our IT is so bad that on any given day you will stare at the blue circle of death for at least a couple of hours waiting for some POS to download or upload or start.

 

This job is not about selling any longer. We spend most of our time satisfying all of the worthless crap coming from HQ and management that generates no business but makes them feel like they are doing something. We have so many layers of people generating stuff that gets in the way of selling that it has become the main part of our job.

 

While other large pharma companies clear a path for the reps to sell, to increase selling time and to streamline any process for their sales force, AZ absolutely creates layers and layers of BS busy work that never fucking end. Why do I have six different ways to "report" one thing? Why do I have to dig through four attachments and a two page email to FIND my ONE action item? Why do we get one report figured out with one template and AZ changes it creating hours of busy work to re-enter or learn it? Yes, I agree 120 percent with the PP. There are so many useless layers of management that all have to appear busy, they just give us more and more to do. I do literally need 20 to 30 hours every week to do administrative BS. Only about 10 of it is to make sales-related phone calls and emails.

 

An expense report alone will take a minimum of 4 hours, usually more toward 6. Thanks to Concur and searching for each attendee's name, right down to the janitor. Crap we scan and they have a copy of the sign sheet. Why do we need to spend hours with inputting more than just the MD, DO, PA, ARNP names?

 

Quit your bitching. What the hell is wrong with you? We get paid an ungodly amount of money for such little work. Kiss your bosses ass, do your metrics and get your shit in on time. That's the game. Cash your check and be happy. This is only a job. You want meaning in your life then fucking quit and become a social worker. For god's sake. The comments in here make me sick. This is the best damn part time job in the world. You idiots don't know how lucky we are to have this gig. Let's face it most of us graduated from some second or third rate college in some rinky dink major and we landed this. LOL how cool is that! We make more money than many primary care docs. Wake up people!!!! Who is with me on this? I invite comments.

 

We do not make more money than PC docs. You're so happy, you must be smokin stuff. Easy job, yes. Lots of baggage with it, yes. A fulfilling career, absolutely not. Even though you're high, it's still a shame even you can admit it's only a job and advise to make it look good and draw a paycheck. People like you are the biggest reason pharma has gone to h@ll. You don't care about the quality of your work, or your efforts, and guess what, it shows.

 

Agreed! We do not "make an ungodly amount of money" AZ spy. We all know you people constantly troll this site trying to make things seem equally weighted. WE work a lot more than 40 hours a week when you take into consideration all the administrative BS. Quit lying and making it seem like even half of the people here are happy. We are miserable! You guys promote the wrong people, your marketing department is pathetic and you make the job so admin heavy, we can't even do our jobs where it counts, in the field!

 

Boo Fuckin Hoo you work more than 40 hours a week. Who are you kidding. Not a pharma rep alive does. I do 90% of my admin work during the day. If you are so miserable go find another job. It's that simple. Also Skippy get real. How many people in America would change jobs with you in an instant. This is an ungodly amount of money for what we do and you know it. I'm saying stop your complaining give the company and your boss what they want and cash your check. If you can't live with that get another job. But quit your bitchin.

 

I think you're the problem. There are plenty of PC docs who struggle financially.

You, you blowhard know-it-all jackass, are the reason pharma reps are not welcome.

Eat shit.

 

I agree with the other guy, not YOU. YOU, yeah YOU, are the know it all. There are plenty of AZ HR people on here posing as reps pretending to love their "easy" jobs. People end up on disability because of abusive managers. You are such an arrogant ass, you think you can stay under the radar. Guess what, "Eat shit-head" there are going to be layoffs end of year and they'll start looking under your hood just like every one elses.

 

Hei ! Quit the complaining. Go back to the JAM !! AZ is JAMMING !!

 

I've been gone from the company for over two years, but cruising this board is just so damned entertaining! I can't decide who is more pathetic, the whining reps, crying because their boss is soooo mean, or the kool-aid drinker who sounds like Kevin Bacon in the last scene of Animal House, yelling "Remain calm! All is well!", right before he gets trampled by the mass of panicked spectators.

I mean, I have gotten on with my life, seriously. I am making much more than I ever did at AZ, I actually enjoy what I do, and I answer to no one but myself and my customers. Oh yeah, my wife also. My wife and myself, I can handle. Those customers that turn out to be pains in the ass? I cut them loose because I've got more business coming in right now than I can handle.

But back to my comments about reading CP, especially AZ CP. Seriously, this shit is more amusing than "The Big Bang Theory", has more plot twists, backstabbing and vile characters than "Game of Thrones", and more disfunctional losers than Dr Phil, Judge Judy, and Survivor combined! Great entertainment. Who needs television when I've got this?

But for all of you people who truly are being slowly sucked of any sanity, integrity, and soul that you still possess, you don't have to live like this. Take a chance, roll the dice, jump into the great unknown and know the satisfaction and peace of mind that comes from standing on you're own two feet. There is nothing like it.

For the rest of you, please continue with this absolutely spellbinding dialogue.